Semiconductor memory is widely used in various electronic devices such as cellular telephones, digital cameras, personal digital assistants, medical electronics, mobile computing devices, servers, solid state drives, non-mobile computing devices and other devices. Semiconductor memory may comprise non-volatile memory or volatile memory. A non-volatile memory allows information to be stored and retained even when the non-volatile memory is not connected to a source of power (e.g., a battery).
As memory structures increase in density, it becomes more challenging to maintain the integrity of the data being stored. One way to maintain data integrity is through use of Error Correction Codes (ECC). However, error correction codes can only handle a limited amount of error and data retention can be further improved by increasing the effectiveness of ECC techniques.